Vernon resident Ian Moore-Morrans, author of From Poverty To Poverty: A Scotsman Encounters Canada, has been chosen as one of “50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading.”
The awards were sponsored by The Authors Show, an online radio show featuring author interviews. Previously interviewed writers were required to submit an essay entitled: “Why I Write.” The winners were then chosen as the result of a public voting process. Moore-Morrans’ win secures a place in 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading, an annual publication that will be available this month.
From Poverty To Poverty: A Scotsman Encounters Canada will likely prove fascinating for anyone interested in memoirs; Scottish life during the Depression and war years; teenage life in the Salvation Army; Scottish folk music, brass band and 1940s-1960s’ tunes; early 1950s Royal Air Force life; Egypt during pre-Suez crisis days; or immigration to Canada.
“I’m a Scottish Highlander,” said Moore-Morrans, “through and through, including the accent. In North America more often than not when people meet me they identify my accent and many then tell me of a Scottish ancestor. When I inquire, they usually tell me that the ancestor is dead and they know little about them.
“Folks have always been intrigued about my impoverished background, the difficulties I faced as an immigrant and about Scottish topics in general. I finally resolved to document my story for my descendants and anyone else who might be interested.”
Moore-Morrans’ Scottish childhood during the Depression and war years was spent in abject poverty. Apprenticed to a blacksmith at 14, he begins a lifelong avocation making music. Life improves upon entering the Royal Air Force as an aircraft engine mechanic and bandsman in Britain and Egypt.
Returning to civilian life as a machinist, he marries and fathers two daughters. Misled by inflated promises of an unscrupulous Canadian official, Moore-Morrans and his family immigrate to Canada in 1965. Misadventures in finding and keeping jobs and suitable accommodations lead him to conclude that he has only moved “from poverty to poverty.”
“The central message of my book is that it is possible to overcome a negative lifestyle like poverty,” said Moore-Morrans. “However, in order to do so, one has to have grit, perseverance, sometimes luck and even humour to get through it all. I’ve tried to look for humour in each and every situation. When all else fails, a good laugh and then, determining to pick yourself up and start anew, will help you deal with most things that life throws at you.”
Taking up writing at age 63, Moore-Morrans first published an e-book entitled Metal Machining Made Easy (as Ian Morrans). Since 2004, he has relied on the editing skills of his wife, Gayle, whom he met in 2003 when they started a conversation about the eclectic assortment of stories he was writing. When Ian learned that Gayle was a magazine editor, he began to envision them working together. Three months later they married, combining their birth surnames to form the new family name “Moore-Morrans.”
After Gayle retired in 2004, they left Canada to explore retirement in Mexico. There they began to collaborate on writing and editing Ian’s stories. Returning to Canada in 2007, they settled first in Penticton and then in Vernon. In 2010 they published Ian’s novel, Beyond the Phantom Battle: Mystery at Loch Ashie, and in 2012, volume one of Ian’s autobiography, From Poverty to Poverty: A Scotsman Encounters Canada.
The book is available at Amazon.ca or from the author. More information is available at ianmooremorrans.com
